Today is the 3rd Sunday of Ordinary Time, now dedicated to promoting a love and knowledge of Scripture, it’s like our new annual “Bible Sunday” for Catholics! South African Anglican Bishop Desmond Tutu, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, likes to tell:
“When the missionaries came to Africa, we had the land, and they had the Bible. Then they said, ‘Let us pray’ and asked us to close our eyes. When we opened them, they had the land, and we had the Bible”. He adds, “And I think we got the better deal.”
The Bible is the written word of God, but the [whole] Word of God is actually the person Jesus as we pray in the Angelus Prayer: The Word was made Flesh: And dwelt among us. This is why Catholics and Orthodox Christians believe, as the Catechism teaches in no. 108, that the Christian faith is not a "religion of the book"--
Because Jesus said, “my words will not pass away,” but he did not write down his teachings.
However, we still have to read or hear the Bible every single day because he is there speaking to us, from the words which were written down and are alive to speak to us.
Although both Catholics and Protestants have the same 27 books in the New Testament, Protestants have 39 books in their Old Testament because they follow the Hebrew canon. Catholics have 46 books in the Old Testament because we follow the Septuagint or Greek version. However, it is important to know that almost all of the New Testament references to the Old Testament are taken from the Septuagint version, so it clearly was the version the first Christians used. Plus, who could have known that 400 years after Martin Luther, many Hebrew copies of Septuagint were found in the Dead Sea scrolls at Qumran?
My mnemonic device to remember the missing 7 books not found in the Protestant Bible-- “To be with Sweet Jesus My Man” (7)
Tobit, Baurch, Wisdom, Sirach, Judith, 1 and 2 Maccabees. These books rarely appear on Sundays, but they frequently appear on weekday Masses. The Church is open at 6 AM and the morning weekday Mass is at 7 AM. That gives you enough time to pray and the rosary and meditate on the Bible.
2). Our Gospel today features professional fisherman. They had in hand circular fishing nets, weighted around the perimeter, that were thrown from a standing position in shallow water to catch large shoals of fish at one cast.
Jesus was asking them to cast the gospel message of his saving death, resurrection and Ascension to people and try to catch their hearts. The bait are words formed by your reading the Bible.
Ask yourself, “Am I a “Fisher of Men?” And I don’t mean girls looking for a date! Jesus did not say, “Come after me, and we’ll talk about fishing for men.” He said, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
There is a delightful story about a young Asian girl named Yi (pronounced “Yee”). She went to Vacation Bible Camp at her parish where she heard in the KJV, which is like the Douay-Rheims Version, the archaic pronoun "ye" to mean "you."
Yi heard the verse which begins like this, “Go YE therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” Yi didn’t understand that in the old English language, the word “ye” just means “you.” This young girl thought her name was in the Bible! She became truly excited that Jesus was telling her—“Ye” to personally go spread his message to the world, that Christ has died, Christ is Risen, and Christ will come again!
3. Our Readings this Sunday mention “light” several times.
Ceramic oil lamps are among the artifacts most frequently found in archaeological excavations in the Holy Land, which is what Psalm 119:105 refers to, “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.”
Illumination can refer to either physical light or intellectual light. The Bible uses the word "light" to represent intelligence. When Jesus said, "I am the light of the world," he means that he is the expresser of Truth in all its aspects.
Faith is a light, for once the flame of faith dies out, all other lights begin to dim. Cate Blanchett said something similar to this as the elf queen Galadriel in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001).
The Scene: Galadriel gives this blessing to Frodo Baggins when gifting him the Phial of Galadriel (or "star-glass"), which contains the light of Eärendil’s star. The Full Line: "May it be a light to you in dark places, when all other lights go out".
Meaning: The phial is intended to provide hope, guidance, and protection against evil when all other hope or illumination has vanished. Just like the words found in the Bible.
Our Readings also said twice, The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shone.
The light that is the remedy for the gloom of sin is repentance: “Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” The light is on for you (the slogan for Wednesday confessions during Lent).
The new reality requiring repentance is the onset of the kingdom--the reclaiming of the world for God’s rule, dispossessing the rule of Satan.
Blaise Pascal said, “In faith there is enough light for those who want to believe and enough shadows to blind those who don't.”
The man or woman of God welcomes the light that searches their deeds and finds them true. Since faith comes from hearing, and since faith is a light, the Methodist minister, the Reverend Dale Schoening, spotted this sign in front of a church: “If God can make a bug’s butt light up, think what He can do for you.”
An igloo can reach 61 degrees when warmed by body heat alone. The Gloom and chill busters is a faithful believer who has the light of Christ, in the state of grace.
4. Lastly, faith comes from hearing, Romans 10:17, says—
St. Paul wrote some letters, called epistles, but these were read aloud; all of Scripture is at root an oral phenomenon.
Yes, New Testament epistles were written to be read aloud to the gathered church congregation. Because manuscripts were rare and literacy rates were low, Paul and other apostles expected their letters to be read in one sitting, with specific instructions for them to be shared among churches, such as in Colossians 4:16.
Here the Apostle Paul instructs the church in Colossae to read his letter and also exchange it with the church in Laodicea, ensuring they also read Paul’s letter from Laodicea as well, suggesting early Christian letters were meant for broader church circulation and inspiration, though the specific "letter from Laodicea" isn't in the current biblical canon; it’s considered a lost Pauline epistle.
If you don’t hear testimonies. If you don’t hear the Bible read, you will dry-up and won’t have much faith. Why? Because faith comes from hearing. But, given the short attention span of hearing...
... It’s a good practice to read some verses of the Bible, then re-tell it to someone else, adding your personal experience which is like you having your own regular little Catholic Bible Sunday.
